I have a small group of 1966 photos from around Los Angeles; they aren't the greatest ever, but still offer some fun. And fun is my middle name!
First is this photo featuring a true landmark of Hollywood, the 13-story Capitol Records building. While many assume that it was designed to look like a stack of records, that is apparently not correct. I hope those people feel appropriately ashamed! The historic building is on Vine Street, just north of the famous "Hollywood and Vine" intersection. It was completed in 1956 (so it was only a decade old at the time this photo was taken), and was sometimes called "The House That Nat Built", because Nat King Cole was such a phenomenally popular performer who made big bucks for Capitol Records.
Next, we're in downtown L.A., with a look at Googie's restaurant on the corner of 5th Street and Olive, near Pershing Square. Eventually, there were four Googie's locations - this was the second one, it opened in 1955, with a design by architects Arnet and Davis. The restaurants had playful styling that spawned the term "Googie Architecture": Googie architecture is a type of futurist architecture influenced by car culture, jets, the Atomic Age and the Space Age. It originated in Southern California from the Streamline Moderne architecture of the 1930s, and was popular in the United States from roughly 1945 to the early 1970s.
And finally - the theater where the ABC TV show "The Hollywood Palace" was filmed from January 4th, 1964 to February 7th, 1970. It was a midseason replace for the disastrous Jerry Lewis talk show. Unlike similar programs such as The Ed Sullivan Show, the series used a different host each week. Among the show's many performers and hosts were Bing Crosby (who hosted the series' first and final episodes and had the most appearances as guest host: 31 in all, including his family on several of the annual Christmas shows), Dean Martin, Liberace, Frank Sinatra, Milton Berle, Sammy Davis Jr., Sid Caesar, Peter Lawford, The Rolling Stones, Groucho Marx, Joan Crawford, Bette Davis, Tony Bennett, Judy Garland, Jimmy Durante, The Supremes, Ginger Rogers, The Temptations, Dusty Springfield, Phyllis Diller, and Elizabeth Montgomery. The Rolling Stones... made their first US television appearance on the June 6, 1964, episode, and The Jackson 5... made their first national television appearance on the October 18, 1969, episode.
I hope you have enjoyed these photos of Vintage Los Angeles!
Major-
ReplyDeleteAhhh.... the Capitol Records tower - Designed by Louis Naidorf of Welton Becket Associates. Gotta love it. Down front is a 1963 Ford Truck; and parked in front of it is a 1955 Chevrolet.
Googie architecture - so much fun. Just today at lunch I was talking about Ships Coffee Shops. Martin Stern Jr. was the architect for them. (And that's a 1959 Chevrolet [probably in Frost Blue] just turning in front of the restaurant).
The Hollywood Palace opened as the Hollywood Playhouse in 1927. In addition to 'hosting' the [very] short-lived Jerry Lewis talk show, also has the notoriety of being the location (when NBC had converted the space into a television studio) where Richard Nixon delivered his [infamous] "Checkers speech" on September 23, 1952.
Thanks, Major.
OK, so it's not a stack of records... Then it MUST be a stack of pancakes... on a spindle!.. Or a giant air conditioner.
ReplyDeleteI woulda thought that the namesake of Googie architecture would've looked more 'spacey' and less 'crooked old man who lived in a crooked house'. Then again, compared to 'regular' buildings, the restaurant does look quirky and interesting.
Except for that ornate second floor window, the Hollywood Palace looked to be a fairly unassuming building, at least on the outside. The names on the marquee are a little too blurry to read. I can't recall if I watched this show or not. Sounds somewhat familiar but...
Thanks for the Saturday travelogue, Major.
ALSO...
ReplyDeleteIn the 3rd image - right down front is a [1963 or 1964 or 1965) Cadillac convertible. It's a little tough to pin-point the exact year. And reflected in the side windows we can see the front grille of a 1965 Rambler Classic-!
@ JB-
The 'names' on the marquee appear to say: 'something unreadable'; but then - "HOLLYWOOD PALACE・SATURDAY NIGHT・5:30 (Just a guess on the time).
The person who took the photo of Capitol Records, was standing in front of (give or take a few feet) the Hollywood Palace. Note that the sign in the parking lot next to Capitol Records, has "Hollywood Palace" on it.
ReplyDeleteI love pics of vintage L.A., Major. Thanks for sharing these with us!
I am suitably chastised, as I thought the “stack of records” analogy was at least plausible. But this was back when no one questioned the brilliance of the Architect, who descended from Parnassus imbued with divine inspiration unfettered by mere mortal affairs.
ReplyDeleteThere should be a Du-Pars around somewhere nearby.
My brush with greatness was some involvement with the design of the nearby Everly Hotel.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/1UyVBJpR5gkjnauj9?g_st=com.google.maps.preview.copy
JB, this Googie is a re-skin of a ground floor space in an existing building, the flagship store was a far more impressive free-standing building.
The Hollywood Palace is also a victim of an ill-conceived and half-hearted re-skin. I’m sure there are lovely California Churrigueresque window surrounds behind those grim overlays, judging by the applied ornaments over the marquee, and undoubtedly a similar ground floor facade treatment concealed by that Stalinesque marble. Gosh what a playbill, might be easier to list who didn’t appear there.
Thanks Major, good to see Hollywood without the modern trappings.
JG
Interesting to see the Capitol Records Building when it was the tallest building in the immediate vicinity. I had always believed it was designed to look like a stack of records, too. Of course, I also believed that the Capitol Dome in D.C. was designed to look like a giant mound of mashed potatoes, so I may not be the most reliable source when it comes to the design inspirations of Capitol structures.
ReplyDeleteI have never been to Pershing Square. I have been to Pershing’s grave, although that’s more of a rectangle.
JG, here’s what the Palace (now the Avalon Palace) looked like in 2007. The ground floor is still pretty nondescript, but at least it looks more architecturally unified.
Thanks for a visit to vintage L.A.!
Nanook, I do love Googie architecture, there is a coffee shop not far from me called “Corky’s” that is classic Googie, but it sadly closed a few years back and has been sitting empty - I fear that it might be torn down. You know, LA loves to tear down historic buildings. Any place that Richard Nixon has been is instantly a landmark!
ReplyDeleteJB, yum, pancakes. Or “flapjacks”, as I like to call them. Not “flannel cakes”, I imagine a mouth full of cloth. I think the Googie’s restaurant pictured here is not as exuberant as the original because it was added to an already-extant building - they didn’t have the freedom that they’d have if they started from scratch.
Nanook, I need that Rambler Classic ASAP, how do I make that happen?
TokyoMagic! I’m glad you liked these. I know that back in the day I saw at least one concert at “The Palace”, though I can not tell you who the performer was. Possibly The Captain and Tennille!
JG, it does seem logical to assume that the Capitol Building was supposed to look like a stack of records. I mean, that’s what it looks like! And yes, Du-Pars was right nearby, you can see it in many vintage photos of the Capitol Building. Go get some pie! My buddy Mr. X used to love Du-Pars. The Everly Hotel looks nice - too fancy for the likes of me! I always think it’s such a shame when beautiful old theaters fall on hard times, it happens all over, but seemingly more often in LA. They turn into churches, flea markets, or worse. Looking at the Palace today, it is some abomination called “Avalon”, whatever that is. Maybe I can go get collagen injections? Two words: duck lips.
Chuck, it’s so strange to drive down the Hollywood Freeway now, the Capitol Building is barely visible among all the new high-rises. I always wonder, do those buildings have 50% tenancy? Or less? I’ve heard that Pershing’s grave is one of the most fun things to visit, a real party atmosphere. So the “Avalon Palace” is still a theater? Well that’s good news, even though it looks like garbage on the outside. Not enough pink.
LTL, that “real” logo is so familiar, it’s funny how things like that made an impact in the days when I would literally watch my record albums spin around and around on my little record player. I agree, from the outside the Hollywood Palace building does not inspire much. I wonder how people could object to the “Jesus” line when Simon and Garfunkel sang on TV? What’s bad about it? Maybe someone decided to just play it safe and avoid problems. Thank you for the link to your Internet Archive list of those episodes!!
Nanook, some crazy teenagers put stars in the sidewalk in front of Du-Pars. They should get haircuts and go to military school!
Trivium: In the movie "Earthquake" they had a miniature of the Capitol Records building collapsing. Later, in the TV series "Galactica 1980", they recycled the shot by adding a Cylon spaceship firing a beam at it.
ReplyDeleteChuck, Devils Tower was designed to look like a giant bowl of mashed potatoes. The US Capitol was designed to look like the California Capitol.
ReplyDeleteJG
I remember walking by that Googie's shop back in the 80's and being blown away by it. It was my awakening to an architectural style that I entirely took for granted growing up in CA. From what I know, the original Googie's was also a remodel, designed by John Lautner. It was a real eye-catcher though not as complete a design as what Armet & Davis came up with later on with their standalone coffee shops such as Pann's, The Penguin (now Mel's), and Johnnie's (closed but still Standing).
ReplyDeleteDBenson, Earthquake: In SENSURROUND!
ReplyDeleteJG, Did they really use the California Capitol as a guide for the one in DC?
Omnispace, Sadly, I have not been to a lot of classic coffee shops, even examples in LA that are not that far from me. I like coffee shops, I just don’t go to them!